NEW YORK – The Black Eyed Peas blasted through a 10-minute Super Bowl halftime show Sunday, playing their biggest hits with a little help from Usher, Slash and hundreds of ‘Tron’-inspired dancers even as technical glitches intermittently marred the performance.
With the Green Bay Packers leading the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10 ahead of an eventual 31-25 victory, Will.i.am, Fergie, apl.de.ap and Taboo made a lofty entrance into the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, lowering themselves onto a green-lit stage to the sounds of “I Gotta Feeling,” the No. 1 smash from their 2009 album ‘The E.N.D.’
Sound issues silenced Fergie’s first lines and would surface again later, but the Peas’ intensity never dropped, thanks in large part to a supporting cast of enthusiastic young dancers. As the Peas transitioned into “Boom Boom Pow,” the dancers’ LED suits lit up in green, and then in red as Slash emerged to play the power riffs of former band Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” with Fergie taking on the vocals.
Next up were “Pump It” and “Let’s Get It Started,” both drawn from their 2005 album, ‘Monkey Business.’ Usher then took the stage to perform last year’s No. 1 hit “OMG,” leaping over Will.i.am’s head and landing in a split. The Peas closed out their set with “The Time (Dirty Bit),” the lead single from their underperforming new album ‘The Beginning.’ The halftime show topped off a Super Bowl filled with musical highlights.
Commercials starring Eminem, Justin Bieber, Ozzy Osbourne and Faith Hill commanded attention while the game clock was stopped, and ‘Glee’ star Lea Michele sang a powerful rendition of “America the Beautiful” that made a strong case for watching the Fox show’s special post-Super Bowl episode. On the other hand, Christina Aguilera fumbled the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before kickoff.
The pop singer belted out, “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last gleaming?” — mashing lyrics from the national anthem’s second and fourth lines.
